What's the longest shift you have worked?

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  1. Daffy Duck profile image60
    Daffy Duckposted 12 years ago

    I am close to getting a job where I will be working overtime almost every day, even during the slow season.  I have been told that I would be working 11-13 hour shifts during the Summer.  Major overtime!  What's your job like?

    1. kshankin profile image61
      kshankinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      When I was 16 I once worked a 12 hour shift at Wendys!

    2. Drew Breezzy profile image62
      Drew Breezzyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      12, 13 hours the longest work day I've had.

  2. kmackey32 profile image64
    kmackey32posted 12 years ago

    16 hrs..... I am a nurses aid

    1. Daffy Duck profile image60
      Daffy Duckposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Keep it up and you'll need a nurses aid.  Damn!

  3. Balinese profile image39
    Balineseposted 12 years ago

    16 hours as i had  2 full time job  last year

  4. WriteAngled profile image75
    WriteAngledposted 12 years ago

    I frequently have to work the whole day, all through the night and through the day again. I'm a freelance, and think this could be a fairly standard hazard of such a status. I don't get overtime income for it either!!!

    1. Daffy Duck profile image60
      Daffy Duckposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      What field do you freelance in?  Are you covering insomniacs?

  5. cindi h profile image61
    cindi hposted 12 years ago

    Currently, I am unemployed, but for 7 years I worked for my husband as a fed-ex driver. During our peak season I remember working 12+ hours of non-stop bending, reaching, lifting and walking.

    1. Daffy Duck profile image60
      Daffy Duckposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I'll be doing something similar if I can get the job I'm after.

  6. melpor profile image90
    melporposted 12 years ago

    I once work two shifts as a lab tech many years ago for a total of 16 hours. Boy I was exhausted after that.

  7. wilderness profile image94
    wildernessposted 12 years ago

    We were once asked to work whatever we could - the norm for about two months was 7 days, 18 hours per day.  It doesn't work out very well - people go to lunch but don't come back (asleep in their car) and after a few days were often late to work.

    As a young man in college I worked one summer with 3 jobs; my schedule on weekends began Friday morning at 8:00 AM and ended Monday at 10:00 PM with no more than a couple of 1 hour breaks between jobs.  It was made possible because the graveyard shift those 3 days was a gas station (the attendant pumped gas then and washed windshield, etc.) with a bell that would ring when there was a customer.  Business was slow and I could get some sleep in between customers.

  8. Bill Manning profile image68
    Bill Manningposted 12 years ago

    Back when I was young there was a period I worked 70 hours a week driving.

    Once I was so tired, I pulled into the yard of the house next door instead of my own and fell asleep in the car!

    1. Daffy Duck profile image60
      Daffy Duckposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      That's funny as hell!  What did your neighbor say?

      1. Bill Manning profile image68
        Bill Manningposted 12 years agoin reply to this

        Actually they never came out. I woke up about a half hour later and drove over to my house. big_smile

  9. camlo profile image84
    camloposted 12 years ago

    I have to work 16-18 hour shifts occasionally.

  10. TahoeDoc profile image79
    TahoeDocposted 12 years ago

    I'm an anesthesiologist. In residency, I regularly worked 30 to 36 hour stretches. Once in a while, I'd get a nap for an hour or two. There were no work-hour limits in place 'back in the day'. There are now - residents are now limited to 80 hour weeks, I think.

    Now that I'm in private practice, a non-call day is about 10 hours. If I'm on call, I'm on for 24 hours at a time during the week. That means I work straight through the day and into the night until the scheduled and 'add-on' emergency surgeries are done - usually 12 to 16 hours. I am then available to be called back for surgeries or epidurals until the next morning at 7am. At 7am, the next regular work day starts. That day is the "post-call" day and is usually shorter - like 6 or 8 hours.

    The weekends, I'm on call for 48 hours straight. Usually, I don't work more than 12 hours total during that 48 (except during 'peak seasons' which are the summer and winter here), but it's randomly split up between day and night, so it's exhausting. Then Monday morning when the call is over, a new week starts.

    Yes, it sucks. That's why I only work 'part-time' meaning I work a few weeks on with that schedule and then have a week or two off to spend some time with my children.

  11. knolyourself profile image59
    knolyourselfposted 12 years ago

    "I'm an anesthesiologist. In residency, I regularly worked 30 to 36 hour stretches."
    Is that safe and if not, why is it required?

    1. TahoeDoc profile image79
      TahoeDocposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      NO! It's not safe or healthy.

      There is a culture in medicine that is part 'macho'and another part of it is that you are supposed to be willing to sacrifice EVERYTHING to be a doctor or you don't deserve the 'privilege'.

      If you even suggest that you might be too tired to work effectively, you are labeled as 'lazy', 'weak' and not a team player since someone else has to pick up your slack. Same goes for needing food or family time.

      It's starting to change, thus the work hour restriction for residents of 80 hours a week (if that's their restriction, what does that say about how it used to be?).

      A lot more docs now are like me. We say Eff you to the old system and are finding ways to cut back, work part time, job share, have other revenue streams, etc (but sometimes there is no choice - I still have $150,000 in loans after 10 years out of med school).

      The problem is that hospitals are 24/7 propositions. Someone has to be there ALL the time. If there were twice as many doctors, the hours would be better, but the cost would go up - more salary, more malpractice insurance, etc.

      The argument for trainees to work like crazy is that they 'need' the continuity of care of being with the patient night and day for days on end. There is some value to that BUT not so much that it starts to put that same patient in jeopardy. But the old school docs will not hear of it. They are too part of the system to have it change and new docs are instilled with this philosophy from day one. I was told once in med school that I WOULD be in the hospital every day, either as a doctor or a patient (that is, if you aren't sick enough to be admitted as a patient, don't even think about not showing up for your rotation.).

      It's one of the reasons I would not do med school again and that I now work part-time when I can get away with it. I gave up my youth and my health. I will not also sacrifice my children to the beast.

      Good question and I hope things keep changing for the better.

  12. Greek One profile image64
    Greek Oneposted 12 years ago

    Been married for 2 and a half years now smile

    1. Bellamie profile image59
      Bellamieposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      smile smile smile!!!

      1. Daffy Duck profile image60
        Daffy Duckposted 12 years agoin reply to this

        keep up these jokes and you won't be for long. :-)

      2. cindi h profile image61
        cindi hposted 12 years agoin reply to this

        Wow your wife's been working that long!??  LOL smile

    2. lrohner profile image69
      lrohnerposted 12 years ago

      Well, my first child was born in 1985 and my youngest child turned 18 in 2007. So that makes the longest shift I ever worked about 22 years. smile

    3. Bellamie profile image59
      Bellamieposted 12 years ago

      I have worked 16 hour shifts as a nurses aide before.  But when my mom was in hospital for just over a month my schedule was:
      Up at 9am
      Hospital by 10am
      Home at 6pm
      sleep til 9pm
      to work by 10pm
      home by 7am
      up at 9am...and repeat this over and over for a month or so.  It was rough and probably took a few years off my life, but hey, Mom is doing great!

    4. IzzyM profile image86
      IzzyMposted 12 years ago

      I probably work more hours now every day as a freelancer than I've ever worked in my life, but when I was a taxi driver one day I worked from 1pm right through to 7am in the morning. It was New year and it was incredibly busy, I don't think I even got a break.
      Made a small fortune all the same smile

    5. profile image0
      Home Girlposted 12 years ago

      That's why my friend got the wrong dosage of anaesthetic 20 years ago and by miracle did not die, but was left severely disabled - half of her brain was "burned". She lives with terrible headaches all her life and bad memory and what not.
      Doctors and nurses should have more "normal" shift. It spells disaster all the time. 8-10 hours of work, no more is normal and good night/day sleep is imperative to anybody. We,humans, have to have rest. Once (when I had a car) I fell asleep behind the wheel in slow traffic and woke up facing the back of the bus like 2 inches in front of me. Scary!

    6. Daniel Carter profile image62
      Daniel Carterposted 12 years ago

      I work 4 jobs, including my online writing. A typical week is 70 hrs for me. Sometimes more.

      1. profile image0
        Home Girlposted 12 years agoin reply to this

        My week is 53 hours, 7 days a week, it's too much, I am tired and want out, but do not know how yet.  Toronto is expensive, but at least there are some jobs there. Every day I am telling myself, just stay put and be patient.

    7. Jim Hunter profile image59
      Jim Hunterposted 12 years ago

      48 hours in a row.

    8. knolyourself profile image59
      knolyourselfposted 12 years ago

      "There is a culture in medicine that is part 'macho'and another part of it is that you are supposed to be willing to sacrifice EVERYTHING to be a doctor or you don't deserve the 'privilege'." Would guess much of this is just good old exploitation and cheap labor disguised as training, to the detriment of the patient, who there are probably many injured or killed due to mistakes by people who haven't slept in 4 days.

      1. TahoeDoc profile image79
        TahoeDocposted 12 years agoin reply to this

        You are right about that. I figured out once on a particularly bad rotation with every-other-night call that I was making about $4.00 per hour for that period of time. Miserable.

        There are some errors and some that lead to bad outcomes, BUT the check and balance system provided by a team approach helps A LOT in a teaching hospital and involves medical students, first year residents, senior residents and attending physicians on a team, taking care of each patient. You 'round' 2 times a day and discuss treatment plans with the whole team in depth before any changes are made to the patients care. In addition, the nurses and pharmacists help a lot with double-checking medication and so on. Ideally, the team works together and looks out for each other and the patient. It's not a perfect system but it REALLY does help.

    9. tritrain profile image71
      tritrainposted 12 years ago

      24+ hours when I was in the Navy during wartime events.

      1. Daffy Duck profile image60
        Daffy Duckposted 12 years agoin reply to this

        Thank You for serving!

    10. Richieb799 profile image77
      Richieb799posted 12 years ago

      12 hours at a crappy factory packing job while home from university when I was 18

    11. futurenetads profile image61
      futurenetadsposted 12 years ago

      Generally i work 8h daily but Last month episode deadline reached  so I worked 13hours. I'm 3d Lighting artist.

    12. knolyourself profile image59
      knolyourselfposted 12 years ago

      "3d Lighting artist." What's that?

    13. Cagsil profile image70
      Cagsilposted 12 years ago

      The longest shift I've worked was 18 hours in a single day. However, the most I worked in one week is around 94 hours. wink

    14. eneal profile image58
      enealposted 12 years ago

      I own my own business now and usually work 10 hour days, yet when I was 23 after 4 years with the same company, I worked 17 hours once as a security supervisor. Then I slept for 7 hours and worked another 16 hours because they needed the man power. Then I was told on the 2nd 16 shift that my incident report was sloppy like that of a trainee and if I don't do better my job might be in jeopardy. Ha! I told HR and they were pretty pissed at the manager who said that, but I decided that after 4 hours, it was time to move on regardless of that incident.

    15. David Warren profile image84
      David Warrenposted 12 years ago

      I spent twenty three hours tracing a video problem to its source for a major hotel/casino property. Amazing how important television can become to some. lol

    16. wheelinallover profile image75
      wheelinalloverposted 12 years ago

      In the past I have worked 20 hours a day for one company, and have often done 24 hour shifts working the whole time. Most of the time now I am still working very long shifts.
      Now though its not all doing the same thing. I actually consider Hub pages a full time job, but at least if you need a few days off no major bad thing will happen.
      On top of Hub pages I have four websites which are in the start up phase. They all require time every day. Sometimes I have three small children to take care of on top of all this. There are times when I am still putting in thirty six hours without sleep. 
      I have many more crash and burn days now than I did even ten years ago. There are also many more days getting out of bed is impossible due to my physical health.

    17. randomcreative profile image88
      randomcreativeposted 12 years ago

      Conference meeting days in my district are 12 hours for teachers.

    18. profile image49
      Johny5iveposted 12 years ago

      I have done 24-30 hrs a lot at my current job (of 19 years) will try to break that tonight (Wednesday 9:30) and work till Friday when its all done! whats the worse thing that could happen??? a heart attack and death?

    19. Gail Anthony profile image60
      Gail Anthonyposted 12 years ago

      From 8am on a Friday to 3pm on Sunday, 55hrs.  This was done by choice to complete tasks so a project could start as scheduled on Monday.  As a salaried employee, there was no overtime pay.

    20. RKHenry profile image62
      RKHenryposted 12 years ago

      14 hours.

    21. Pamela99 profile image90
      Pamela99posted 12 years ago

      I use to work a 16 hour shift once a week along with my normal 4 days as a nurse. I had 3 boys to feed and clothe so it was necessary.

     
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